So That's What They Call a Family
by Trignifty
Summary: Elizabeth and Rebecca were twins. Not only were they twins, they were best friends. They loved each other, respected each other, and trusted each other with everything. They were all each other had until the fire...
1. Chapter 1

**Well, this idea just randomly came to me, so here we go: **

**Summary: Elizabeth and Rebecca were twins. Not only were they twins, they were best friends. They loved each other, respected each other, and trusted each other with everything. They were all each other had until the fire…**

**Disclaimer: ****Trig does not own Newsies. Trig wishes she does. Trig is talking in third person. Trig especially wishes she owned Mush. Sadly, Trig doesn't own Mush. If she did she would write stories about him and make millions. But she can't because she doesn't own him. (Trig feels like crying now.) But this story isn't about Mush,**** it's about a different newsie but Trig will not reveal who said newsie is until the proper time for fear of ruining the story. Trig does not own "said newsie" either****. (Trig really feels like crying now.) Trig, in fact, doesn't own any of the Newsies. (Trig **_**is**_** crying now). So anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie, not to Trig. (Sob)**

Chapter 1

Rebecca's Point of View

We were left at the orphanage when we were 2 weeks old, my twin sister Elizabeth and I. She was the only family I had ever known, my best friend, one of the only people I trusted completely, and I'm sure she felt the same about me. We were also identical, both with brown hair and hazel eyes and both almost the exact same height, meaning really short. But besides this, it was easy to tell the two of us apart. We were as different as night and day once you got past what we looked like. Lizzie was quiet and obedient, sweet and shy, and she was _always_ the favorite, whether it be with the orphanage caretaker, the other kids in the orphanage or just with people we met. She always had perfect manners and never seemed to mess up.

I on the other hand was wild, rowdy, and loud. In my opinion, rules were meant to be broken and I took the chance to break one as much as possible. I was in trouble almost as often as the boys at the orphanage and could barely sit still during our lessons.

"Rebecca! I asked you a question, please answer it!" Mrs. Schapelhouman's (yeah, her last name is a mouthful) voice cut into my thoughts.

"Yes Mrs. Schapelhouman" I answered, "Um, what was the question?"

I saw Elizabeth across the room moan and put her head in her hands.

"How old are you now Rebecca? Five? Six? You should know to pay attention."

"I'm sorry" I said meekly "but my little six year old brain is so busy, I can't stay focused on one subject for so long."

She stared at me for what seemed like forever, trying to figure out if that was meant as impertinence or not, finally she sighed. "Rebecca, I asked how many pieces of fruit you would have if you had three apples and two pears."

I thought about this a moment, "well, I don't think I need to figure that out, 'cause I won't have that much fruit in my life will I?"

"Rebecca"

"Yes?"

"Please go to the back of the classroom" This was her typical punishment for children my age, you had to go and sit in the back of the classroom facing the wall and 'think about what you had done wrong'.

"Yes Mrs. Schapelhouman." I got up and walked towards the back of the classroom, I passed Nellie, my best friend who gave me a sympathetic smile, I passed Elizabeth who gave me a look that said 'will you never learn?' and I passed several of the boys who were giggling behind their hands and gave me a little thumbs up when I passed them. I reached the back of the room and sat down facing the wall. I tried to pay attention to Mrs. Schapelhouman, but soon my attention began to wander from the amount of fruit that we would have if we had 7 pears and 29 peaches (which I would _never_ have) to other, more interesting things.

I pulled out a little notepad that I kept in my apron pocket at all times and scanned the floor for a pen or pencil. I spotted one under Daniel's desk. I crumpled up a piece of paper and tossed it so it hit him in the back. He spun around and glared at me. "Yes?"

"Can you pass me that pencil?" I whispered, "The one under your desk."

"Sure" he kicked it towards me.

"Thanks."

I dove for it and scurried back to the corner before Mrs. Schapelhouman could catch me. I flipped to a clean page in my notebook and started writing. I would write about princesses, and castles, and dragons, and queens, and princes, and genies that grant three wishes, and fairies, and magic, and princes, and witches, and talking horses, and leprechauns, and elves, and dwarfs, and fairy godmothers, and wicked stepmothers, and kings, and magic rings, and cloaks that make you invisible, and flying carpets, and everything in between. My writing wasn't what you would call…amazing, but I enjoyed it and when you're six years old, your writing won't exactly be winning awards, except for possibly the worst handwriting or worst speller.

"Miss Rebecca" I turned around to see Mrs. Schapelhouman looking over my shoulder, "have you suddenly taken it into your head to take notes? Perhaps I should make sure that they are accurate?"

"Um, no Mrs. Schapelhouman, I uh, think that they are okay" I said hastily tucking my notebook into my apron pocket again.

"Ah, well I don't, let me see the notebook please"

"I wasn't doin' nothin' wrong Mrs. Schapelhouman, honest!" I said placing my hand protectively over my beloved book.

"Let me see the book…_now_"

"Yes Ma'am" I slowly took it out of my pocket and held it out to her. She snatched it away and started flipping through it. She had gone a few pages and looked up at me.

"Notes hmm?"

I just looked down at my feet.

"Rebecca, if you weren't so young…" her voice trailed off. The entire class was watching us now.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Schapelhouman, it won't happen again."

"That's what you said last time you got in trouble."

I didn't answer.

"You are the worst behaved young lady I have ever had to teach! Why can't you be as well behaved as your sister?"

"Um"

"Rebecca, I honestly don't know what to do with you"

"Well, if you come up with somethin' let me know" I tried to escape out the door

"Not so fast missy, now let me give you a little math problem, if you got in trouble for not paying attention 7 times and for impertinence 9 times what does that equal?"

"Um…14 times?"

"No, it equals 16 times, do you want to know what it also equals?"

"I don't know…"

"Expulsion"

"But…"

"Out!" With that she ushered me out the door. How did I just get myself expelled? I mean, they couldn't expel me. I mean, all the kids at the orphanage went here, where was I supposed to go? I slumped against the wall and reached for my notebook, just to realize that Mrs. Schapelhouman had kept it. Now I had nothing to do, for the next three hours until school was over, Elizabeth was the one who knew the way home, I never paid attention. I was usually too busy making up adventures with Nellie to memorize all the twists, turns, corners, and streets that we passed to make it from the orphanage to the school and back again.

Finally school let out and everyone came pouring out of the room. Nellie came dashing out and ran past me not noticing.

"Nellie!" I called

She spun around, "Oh Becca! I didn't see you! It must have been horrible waiting out here all by yourself!" She said running over and helping me up.

"Well, that's the last time I'm ever coming to this stupid school." I said, standing up. We stood outside the school talking about the injustice of Mrs. Schapelhouman waiting for Elizabeth to come out. Of course, she was one of the last to exit the school room. For being my identical twin we sure are different.

"Becca! How could you do that to me?" she said, storming down the steps.

"I didn't do nothin'" I protested.

"You just got yourself expelled! You call that nothing? And at least _try_ to speak with proper grammar." She scolded me like she was my mother rather than my twin.

"Lizzie, please, don't bother me 'bout it, please" with that Nellie and I went skipping up the street.

"Becca! Rebecca! You get back here right now! I mean it! Right now!" But Nellie and I just kept going. "Rebecca! I mean it! You come back here right now young lady!"

"You know, she wouldn't make such a bad Mrs. Schapelhouman would she?" said Nellie.

"No she wouldn't" I said with a giggle.

**Well, there's the first chapter! Remember…reviews feed the muse and the muse is VERY hungry. FEED THE MUSE**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. **

Chapter 2

Rebecca's Point of View

Mrs. Altig, the caretaker of the orphanage was anything but pleased. In fact, I think she was madder than Mrs. Schapelhouman had been. "Rebecca, please go upstairs to the girls room immediately, you will have no dinner and tomorrow you will make yourself useful by cleaning the lobby, _by yourself_"

"But Mrs. Altig-"

She held up her hand, "whatever protests you may have, I don't want to hear it." With that she stormed off. Just as soon as Nellie and I were in the safety of the girl's dormitory did Nellie give me the "good news."

"Guess what Becca?" she said, grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" I said flopping down on my bed.

"Look what I got from Mrs. Schapelhouman!" I looked up and saw her holding my notebook.

"Oh Nellie!" I cried as she handed it to me, "how did you get her to give it to you?"

She shrugged, "well, it wasn't easy, but I finally persuaded her by sayin' that I would give it back, I never said _when_ I would give it back though."

I hugged her and we then spent the next hour talking about how we would outsmart old Mrs. Grumpy-pants (Schapelhouman) and liberate all children from ever going to school again. Suddenly the door to our dormitory opened and to reveal Miss Kemp standing there. She was an assistant to Mrs. Altig and was a whole lot nicer. "Dinner is in ten minutes, just so you know." She said, and then closed the door again. _Oh yeah, dinner_ I thought, remembering Mrs. Altig's punishment.

Nellie stood up. "I'd better go eat, want me to sneak you anything?"

I shrugged, "as long as you don't get caught."

She grinned, "Alright, I'll see what I can do." With that she hurried out of the room.

I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Why was it always me? Why was I _always_ the one who got in trouble? Elizabeth never, ever got in trouble! How could she be so perfect all the time? It would drive me crazy living like that, always keeping the rules and obeying everything anyone said without question. But why couldn't I be like Elizabeth? I tried to be good, but it was so hard. Why was it so difficult for me and easy for her? It wasn't fair. I drifted off to sleep with these thoughts running through my head.

---------

"Becca! Becca! Wake up!" Someone was shaking me, I opened my eyes to see Maria, one of the older girls standing over me, "Becca, come on! Get up!"

"I don't wanna" I said rolling over

"Becca! You _have_ to get up!" Her voice sounded frantic, "NOW!" The other older girls were trying to get the younger ones out of bed, yelling, screaming, and pushing. That wasn't normal, they usually woke us relatively gently, and the air smelled…smoky. Smoky? That can't right. "It's a fire! Get up!"

At those words I jumped up immediately. I could see traces of smoke coming down the hall and heard the shrieks and screams of the smallest children in the nursery. I rushed to Elizabeth's bed where she was still asleep. "Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" I yelled shaking her, "Elizabeth! Get up! There's a fire!" Elizabeth sat bolt upright and looked at me like I was crazy, but then saw the smoke and screamed. I have never heard anyone scream as loud as she did. The smoke was getting thicker, and we knew that we had to get downstairs before it blocked the stairs or else the only way out was the windows.

We ran out the door and pounded down the hall, with every step we took nearer the staircase the smoke got thicker and the air got hotter. It was getting difficult to breathe. We reached the stairs only to see that they were blocked off by the ever growing flames. There had to be a way out! We spun around only to see that somehow the fire had gotten behind us and surrounded us. Elizabeth was in tears by now and I was close. But there had to be a way to escape! We pushed one of the doors open and found ourselves in a spare room, with windows. I ran over to one and tried to force it open but it wouldn't budge.

"Break it!" Screamed Elizabeth, "Break it!"

"With what?" I searched the room for anything that could break a window and that I, as a little six year old, could lift at the same time. There was nothing. Elizabeth came running over with a broom that had a long wooden handle.

"Use this!"

I grabbed the broom and started banging on the window. The heat was getting worse and the smoke made it so that I could barely see. My eyes stung and it hurt to breathe. Then the glass shattered, and fresh air rushed into the room. Elizabeth ran over to the window and looked out. It was a long drop to the ground below, but we would have to jump it. The rug at the other end of the room had caught fire and it was quickly spreading. Elizabeth was near hysterics, and jumped out the window with no further bidding.

I stared out the window. I couldn't see the ground from here because my view was obscured by smoke. I turned back to the room to see the flames had almost reached my end of it. It was now or never. I closed my eyes and jumped. It seemed like I was falling forever and then I hit the ground. Hard. My ankle hurt, it hurt really badly. Around me was a confusion of people, orphans, police, firemen, reporters, you name it. I tried to stand up but I couldn't. I searched the crowd frantically for Elizabeth, but didn't see her anywhere. I tried to crawl as far away as I could away from the building, but didn't get far. Have you ever tried to crawl through a huge crowd? Yeah, it doesn't work.

Soon the flames began to die down and the crowd dispersed. Leaving me. _Where was Elizabeth_ I thought scanning the street for her. Nowhere. Finally I gave up and crawled into an alley and fell asleep behind a box. I would figure it all out in the morning.

**Uh-oh! Becca can't find Elizabeth! ****Remember to feed the muse! Reviews are wonderfully nutritious for my hungry muse…she also feeds on lurking readers if she doesn't get enough reviews**

**Spinner: Did I update quick enough? I'm glad that you like the idea of this story and for once I actually have some sort of idea of where it's going, for my other two I just kinda wrote randomly but they seemed to turn out okay...I think lol.**

**Ktkakes: Aw, thank you soooo much! I tried to make Becca and Lizzie realistic and (from what I heard from you) I _think_ I succeeded...maybe. But that's exactly how my sister and I were at that age. **

**NarniaRulz: Yup, we can always dream. About the way they acted towards eachother near the end versus what I said at the beginning, I though about that too and considered changing it but decided not to for these reasons: 1) They have super different personalities and they manage to get along most of the time but sometimes those different personalites will clash and they argue. 2) No matter how much you love your sister you're going to argue with her once in a while right?**

**Thanks so much for reviewing! Also all you lurking readers out there (and I know that there are more people than these three reading my story) go and review...please?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. **

Chapter 3

Elizabeth's Point of View

I rolled over and opened my eyes. I sat up and looked around. I was in some sort of alley. The still smoldering remains of a building greeted my eyes. Then it all came back to me. Becca waking me up, running down the hall, getting trapped, escaping out the window, getting separated from Becca, and falling asleep in this alley. I sat for a few minutes thinking everything over, and then decided to go look for Becca. She couldn't be too far away. I sat up and brushed myself off, then headed out to go find my sister.

I started by looking in nearby alleys, inside boxes, behind trash cans, and beneath porch steps. When that failed I ventured farther away, looking everywhere for a familiar face. New York City was bustling as usual, though I had never been outside this early in the morning. Vendors shouting their wares, carriages took rich children to school, while the poor raced each other to be first to the school house, and newsboys calling out the headlines.

I had been looking for awhile when I realized I was hungry. My last meal had been dinner and I hadn't eaten much then. I searched my pockets for spare change but there was none. I sat down on some steps to a building completely at a loss. I had always prided myself on knowing my way around but I had no idea where I was. I could have left Manhattan far behind by now, for all I know I could have left New York City all together. Ok, that was dumb, I'd only been searching for about two hours or so, I couldn't have walked that far on my own little six-year-old legs.

That was when I realized I was crying. I had no idea where I was. I was a tiny six year old with nowhere to go, and the only family I had was just as lost as I was, but probably in a totally different part of the city. I put my head in my hands and sobbed.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up to see a girl standing in front of me, she looked to be seven or eight, and was dressed in a light blue satin dress, covered in ribbons and lace and bows. Her blonde hair was curled into ringlets and her brown eyes showed concern.

"I…I think I'm lost" I stammered out.

She sat down next to me. "Well, if there is anything I can do…James my tutor knows his way around the city pretty good." She nodded to the man standing behind her.

"Th…there was a fire, and I…I got separated from my…my sister and I can't find her."

"Were you one of the children from the orphanage?" asked James, bending down to look me in the eye. I nodded.

"James, if we take her to my house then maybe she could stay there tonight and keep looking tomorrow!" Said the girl standing up "My name is Katherine, by the way."

"Elizabeth" I said.

"So Elizabeth, do you want to come?" She asked.

"Miss Katherine, I don't think this is acting in your best interest" put in James.

"Oh James, don't be silly." Katherine said grinning, "Come on Elizabeth!" and took off skipping down the street. Though I'm not sure how she managed to skip in that dress.

--------

We arrived at her house. It was a large grey Victorian style home. And probably the biggest I've ever seen. "We also have a house up in the mountains, it's our summer home, and we will be leaving to go there in a week," said Katherine as she jumped up the steps. The house seemed almost daunting. I had never been in anything near as nice as it. I was just your normal street rat who didn't deserve better than what the orphanage had to offer.

The door was opened by a maid who apparently had seen us coming. She saw me, with my disheveled hair, dirty dress, and altogether unkempt appearance and gave James a strange look that seemed to say "who is _she?_"

"Anna" said Katherine addressing the maid, "This is Elizabeth."

"It's nice to meet you Elizabeth" she said politely nodding her head, though her tone of voice said otherwise.

"Katherine? Back already?" I looked up to see a woman descending the staircase. She was dressed in a light pink silk dress, covered in lace and frills.

"Mama!" she cried running over to the woman, who hugged her.

"Who's your friend?" asked Katherine's mother coming over.

"This is Elizabeth! We found her crying, she couldn't find her sister."

Katherine's mother came over to me, "I'm so sorry, what did she look like? Perhaps we can call the police and have them go and look for her."

"She's my identical twin. She looks exactly like me, her name's Rebecca." I stammered out.

"Well, we'll see what we can do" she said, hugging me despite my disheveled appearance, "I'm Mrs. Brooke by the way if Katherine didn't tell you her last name."

I smiled at her, "Thank you Mrs. Brooke."

--------

The search for Becca continued but will no success, she seemed to have vanished. The Brooke family had taken a special fancy to me and was considering legally adopting me, though right now I just lived in their home as a special guest.

It seemed like a dream come true. Everything was so luxurious. They had bought me several new dresses, all in the most beautiful colors. I had my own room as well, though a door connected it to Katherine's. There was more food at one meal than I would see in possibly a week and almost no work to do.

"James" began teaching me. Just as he had taught Katherine and we took lessons together. My life seemed like a happy dream and I was always frightened that I would wake up and be back in the orphanage. The one thing that could make it perfect would be if Becca were here.

**Soooooooo, Elizabeth has scored big time with some rich people. But an adorable, perfect mannered little**** girl would have no trouble doing it...right? What will it lead to? Well, you won't find out unless you review, because Athena is ****veeeery**** hungry and won't be able to write the next chapter if you don't review. **

**Shout-outs:**

**Ktkakes: Well, at least Elizabeth didn't just "dissappear" lol. And believe me, you don't think too much, you should see some of the reveiws I give people they go on and on and on and on _forever_ lol. Thanks for reviewing!**

**NarniaRulz: I'm glad that my reasons made sense. Yeah, I'm sorry about the cliff hanger, I'm horrible about those, at least this one wasn't so much of a cliff hanger though.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. **

Chapter 4

Rebecca's Point of View

I raced down the street, dodging wagons, weaving between people, jumping over trash, and zipping around corners, very conscious of the policeman not far behind me. _It was just a piece of bread_ I thought_ not only that, a pretty stale piece of bread at that, and it probably would have been thrown out at the end of the day anyway._ I had reached the docks by now and turned so that I was running parallel to the river. It was ten years since the fire and I had never found Elizabeth. She was probably in some orphanage or had been sent out of here on the orphan train. I had stuck around in Manhattan for about four years but had slowly made my way to Brooklyn. I had been living off of begging and stealing and had been in the refuge several times. I continued my mad sprint along the street, almost colliding with people and swerving around wagons. A long time ago I had traded the dress that I had worn in the orphanage for pants and a loose fitting shirt. I also kept my hair braided and tucked up inside a hat most of the time but now it had fallen out and was flying behind me.

I tore around another corner and collided with a boy. He had been carrying newspapers and they went flying everywhere.

"Hey watch it!" He yelled as he ran after the papers. He was pretty short, with sandy brown hair covered by a grey newsboy cap.

"Sorry!" I said and dashed through the door nearest to me. I heard the policeman run by and ask the boy if he had seen a girl running anywhere.

"Yeah, I saw her, she went that way." I held my breath waiting for what I knew was coming. Suddenly the door banged open. I opened my eyes to see, instead of the fat policeman, the boy standing in front of me.

"You didn't turn me in," I said.

He shrugged "Yeah, well, I don't enjoy bein' in the refuge meself, name's Conlon by the way, Spot Conlon."

"Becca" I held out my hand and he shook it-not before spitting on his own hand.

"So, why was the bulls after ya?" he asked.

I held up the small loaf of bread, "stole this, and vendor caught me and turned the cop on me."

"Well, the foist thing you gotta learn when you make a livin' stealin' things is that it's helpful to not get caught."

I rolled my eyes, "yeah, I kinda figured that one out myself," I looked up and my hazel eyes met his ice-blue ones. _Ice blue, good description, I need to remember that_ I made a mental note. "And I've only been doin' this for about ten years thanks."

"Well 'scuse me miss" he said, "for thinkin' you was as dumb as that." I didn't miss the sarcasm is his voice. I didn't reply but started heading for the door, he grabbed my arm stopping me. "Listen, they'll be keepin' an eye out for ya for at least a week."

"So?" I looked him directly in the eye.

"So, I knows a place where you can stay 'til the excitement cools down."

"Excitement? Listen, I've been chased by the bulls more times than I can count. I don't think I need you lecturin' me."

"A'right, suit yourself," he stepped away from the door, "be me guest."

I marched to the door and opened it, just to shut it quickly again, "tell me," I said, "did you know that a policeman was standin' right outside this door?"

He shrugged looking a bit too innocent, "of course not."

"Mmhmm, sure."

"So, you still interested in goin' to Manhattan?"

I stared at him, "who said anythin' 'bout Manhattan?"

"Well, you did"

"Huh?"

"Just now" Oh I wanted to wipe that smirk right off his little arrogant face. I tried to think of a good comeback but couldn't think of anything. "Listen kid-"

"Hey! Who're you callin' kid? You ain't any older than twelve, which makes me four years older than you." He looked like he was ready to soak me.

"If me math is correct that would make ya sixteen, which means I'm actually a year older than you."

"Mmhmm and I'm tall" I said sarcastically. I was only 5'1 and would probably not grow any more.

"So, as I was sayin' before I was so _rudely_ interrupted, I thought that since I have already wasted fifteen minutes of my time for ya I might as well waste a bit more." _What was he talking about?_ "So, I was thinkin' that I could take ya to Manhattan and you could stick 'round there 'till the "chaos" over your lovely piece of bread blows over."

"And why do you need to take me there? Last time I checked I knew my way around New York fairly well."

"Because I am a good friend of Jack Kelly, you ever hoid of him?"

_Jack Kelly, Jack Kelly, that name rung a bell, though I have no idea what I recognized the name from. _"Uh, I might" I muttered, "but why would that mattah?"

"Full of questions ain't ya?" He said smirking, "It mattahs 'cause you gotta have a place to stay in Manhattan, am I right?"

I shrugged, "any random alley woiks for me."

"Humph, well I'm sure it ain't fun, sleepin' in 'any random alley' every night now is it?" _Ok, would he just get to the point? _"You could stay at the Manhattan newsboys lodgin' house until the trouble blows over."

"And what happens if I ain't a newsie?"

"Well then become one, it's hard but at least ya don't need to steal…at least most of the time."

"Well, I'll think about it" I said, though having no intention of doing so.

"A'right, c'mon then" he said opening the door.

"Wait! I never said I would!" I said walking after him.

"Well, ya said ya would think 'bout it right?" I nodded, "then what better way to think 'bout it than experiencing bein' a newsie foisthand?" As much I hate to admit it that did make sense. "I ain't makin' ya do nothin', but I am givin' you a pretty good opportunity." He paused, looking me straight in the eye, "so, you gonna do it or not?"

I sighed, I guess it would be better than stealing stuff to survive, but how did I know I could trust this Spot Conlon person anyway. Sure I'd heard of him. Everyone had heard of him, but, well, I guess from writing so many crazy stories it made me a little more cautious. Finally I sighed, "Well, I guess it wouldn't hoit."

He smirked, "A'right then, c'mon." With that he headed out of the building.

We walked for what seemed like an hour and barely talked the whole time. Finally we reached a building with a sign over the door that said "Newsboys Lodging House." Spot pushed the door open to reveal a small lobby furnished only with a desk and stairs leading up to a second level. Sitting behind the desk was an old man sorting through some papers.

"Ah, Conlon, what brings ya to Manhattan?" asked the man standing up.

"Not much Klopp except this goil here needed a place to stay-is Kelly heah?"

"Not sure, he would be upstairs if he is." After hearing that Spot hurried up the stairs.

"Hey! I don't _need_ anythin'!" I said as I followed him.

"Oh yeah?" he gave me that same now-familiar smirk again. We reached the top of the stairs and I looked around the room. It was long and pretty narrow, full of bunk beds. There was a door at one end that led to what I guessed to be a bathroom and several windows that looked out over the city. There were about fifteen boys, lounging on their bunks, playing cards, or talking. The noise went quiet when we came up the steps.

"Hey Boots, is Kelly heah?" said Spot turning to a little black kid.

"Yup, I'm heah." I turned to see one of the boys stand up. He was pretty tall and standing next to Spot he made him look tiny. Not like I could talk. "What do ya want?" he asked after they spit shook.

"This goil heah had the bulls afta' her and needed somewhere to wait until it all blew over." He said, motioning to me. "So she was wonderin' if ya have any open bunks."

"Yup, several actually, she can have this one, right heah" he pointed to a bunk across the room. I nodded dumbly and walked over to it and sat down. Well, it was much softer than the street. Spot and Jack talked about a few more things until Spot took his leave.

"I'll be seein' ya 'round Rapunzel" he said to me smirking. _Rapunzel? Where had he come up with that?_

"So your name's Rapunzel?" Said Jack coming over.

"No, its Rebecca, or Becca, I have no idea where he came up with Rapunzel."

He shrugged, "well, whatever suits ya. Anyway about half of us are heah right now. The rest of the guys should be gettin' in soon." He then introduced me to the newsies, I have no idea how I would possibly remember all the names and they were so…strange. Bumlets, Skittery, Mush, Boots, Snipeshooter, Snoddy, Itey, Swifty, Dash, the list went on and on. By the time he was done rattling off all the names I couldn't remember a single one.

"Uh, well, it'll take me awhile to remember all those." I said helplessly.

He nodded, "well, you'll have plenty of time."

I shook my head, "I don't think so, I'm not plannin' on stickin' around very long."

"Well, who knows? You might change your mind."

"Huh, fat chance of that" I muttered as he walked away.

**Remember to feed Athena****! Reviews are wonderful****ly nutritious for her****…sh****e also feeds on lurking readers if she doesn't get enough reviews…**

**Shout outs:**

**NarniaRulz: Well, I guess your imagination is very simlar to mine 'cause that's how I orininally planned the story, but I decided to change it a little bit...thanks for reviewing!**

**Eruptingfender9: Ok, you have no idea how thrilled I was when I saw that you reviewed this story because you are by far my favorite Newsies author. Thank you so much for reviewing!**

**Ktkakes: haha curiouser and curiouser, I need to remember that, I've only seen Alice in Wonderland once. Anyway I don't plan on making Katherine a brat and yeah I agree Anna and James were a bit heartless, I kinda meant them to be to be more of the "scary hoity toity people" but I might change that in the future, thanks for reviewing!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, soooooo sorry I wasn't able to get this out sooner. But my computer crashed and then we went to my grandparent's house for the fourth of July so I couldn't update then so, this is the first chance I got. Yeah, yeah, I know, you don't want to hear my excuses, you want the read the story, so here it is:**

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. **

Chapter 5

Rebecca's Point of View

"Everyone up! Time to get up! You too! Up! Up! Up! Yes Cowboy, you too! Sell the papes!" I rolled over and covered my head with my pillow, trying to block out that annoying voice. "Yes Miss Rebecca, you too! Get up!"

I rolled over to see Kloppman, "I don't wanna." I said burrowing farther under my blankets.

"You gotta make money somehow, the lodgin' house ain't exactly free ya know," He said. _How could anyone be so cheerful this early?_

"Well, I ain't plannin' on stayin' heah very long, so I might as well leave later today," I said sitting up, "which means, I won't be needin' to sell no papes." With that I dove under the blankets again. Suddenly I felt my mattress being lifted up and I tumbled off onto the floor. "OUCH! What was that for?!" I yelled sitting up and looking into the face of a very pleased Jack Kelly.

"It's called gettin' a sleepyhead outta bed." He shrugged and walked away.

I picked myself up from the floor and brushed myself off.

"Need some help?" I looked up to see one of the taller kids, he had curly brown hair and brown eyes, I tried to remember his name but couldn't.

"Uh, sure" I grabbed his hand and he helped me up.

"Becca right?"

"Yeah, and you are?"

"Skittery" I quickly made a mental note of his name.

"Hey Skitts!" called the short Italian kid from across the room, "quit flirtin' with Rapunzel and get over heah!"

"My name ain't Rapunzel" I muttered.

Skittery blushed "Comin' Race!" and hurried over.

I quickly braided my hair and tucked it inside my cap and quietly made my way downstairs.

"And where do ya think you're goin'?" I spun around to see Kloppman standing right behind me. For being so old he could sure sneak up on you quickly and quietly.

I had two choices. One, I could play innocent and wait until the newsies came downstairs and go to the distribution office and be stuck selling papers that day or I could play the "proud and defiant" and tell him straight out that I was leaving. I decided the second option would be better. I stood as tall as I could and squared my shoulders. "I'm leavin', and there's nothin' that you can do about it." With that I headed for the door.

"Fine by me" he said and stepped away. I was surprised. I had expected a fight or a small argument at least. But I shook the feeling of surprise off and walked purposely toward the door, opened it, and stepped outside without a backwards glance. I munched on the leftovers of the piece of bread that had gotten me into this whole mess as I walked, keeping a careful eye out for newsboys. I knew I couldn't go to back to Brooklyn, the bulls would still be looking for me, and so my best bet was to stay in Manhattan.

Around eleven thirty I found myself in Central Park. I used to love going to "the park" when I was younger. Sometimes the kids at the orphanage that I lived in would get to have outings and go to the park, or I would walk there after school with Nellie or Elizabeth. _Nellie and Elizabeth_, I wonder where they are now.

But, as much as I had loved it when I was little, I felt out of place now. Rich children ran through the grass while their nannies looked on protectively. Couples wandered through the tree shaded avenues. Some people sat alone by themselves, reading, writing, drawing, painting, or just thinking. There was one thing that all these people shared in common, they were all rich or well off. You can see why I felt out of place. A poor orphan girl dressed in boy's clothes with nothing but the clothes on her back and the stolen piece of bread in her hand. Of course I had my notebook, but what good was that? I flopped down on the grass and closed my eyes, wishing that I was anywhere but here.

"Well if it ain't our little runaway."

I opened my eyes to see Skittery standing next to me. "Huh? I ain't no runaway."

He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at me, "oh yeah? So what are you? Really?"

I shrugged, "What does it look like?"

"Well, ya look like an orphan or a runaway in need of a job."

"Well, I ain't bein' a newsie" I said standing up.

"Why not? It ain't exactly easy but it's better than stealin'"

"Who said I was stealin'?" I said, turning around and starting to walk away, quite ready to be done with this conversation.

"Well ain't that what the bulls were afta' you for?" he asked jogging to catch up to me.

"No, of course not!" I said quickening my pace.

"Well then what?"

"Uh" I stopped short, then turned to face him, "A'right, fine, I stole a piece of bread. One itty bitty piece of bread! Okay! I'm sure you've stolen stuff durin' your lifetime too!" He looked stunned, almost hurt. "Listen Skittery, I'm sorry, but I didn't even want to come here in the foist place and then that stupid Spot Conlon made me and I'm in an all-together bad mood right now, a'right?"

He nodded, "it's fine, trust me, I'm known for bein' in bad moods a lot meself." We walked in silence for a few minutes then he stopped. "But why don't ya give it a chance?"

"Huh?" I stopped walking too.

"Bein' a newsie, I mean, ya seem so against it, but you haven't even tried it yet."

I sighed, _would they ever leave me alone?_ But he did have a valid point. "I…I guess I could, just for one day" I finally stammered out.

He grinned, _oh God, he's so cute when he smiles_. "Great! You can even sell the afternoon edition with me if you want too."

I smiled, "sure, I'd love to."

**Athena (my muse in case you haven't already figured that out) was most happy with the last reviews…unfortunately, each chapter we write makes her hungry again. So…Please review! FEED THE MUSE!**

**Shout****-****outs:**

**Sam: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like the story!**

**Eruptingfender9: Yup, she's going to get matched up with someone and yup, you were right in guessing that it wasn't Spot, maybe you can guess who it is now? lol, thanks for reviewing!**

**NarniaRulz: Well...I didn't exactly post _soon_ but I did post lol. I'm glad that you think I did a good job describing Spot, I was a little worried about that...thanks so much!**

**Racerchick: Thanks so much! It made me so happy to read your review. About Spot's height, I have no idea how tall he is and I tried to show that he was taller than Becca when she says (or thinks) "not like I can talk" after commenting on his height. Um, yeah I have no idea how tall Spot is but he always seemed short to me, I dunno, oh well. Thank so much for reviewing!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. **

Chapter 6

Rebecca's Point of View

We wandered down to the distribution office and bought our papers, I happened to have a nickel on me so I was able to get ten. Skittery explained that you would buy two papers for a penny, then you could sell them for a penny each, therefore, if I sold all ten of my papers I would have ten cents rather than five cents at the end of the day. It seemed simple enough.

"But, even more important than how much money ya make is how ya make it, see heah" he said pointing to one of the headlines that read _Possible Potato Virus_. "No one is gonna buy a pape 'bout that, now watch this." He stepped out to the middle of the sidewalk "Deadly vegetable epidemic sweepin' New York City!" Several people came over and bought a paper. "See?" he turned to me, "headlines don't sell papes, newsies sell papes." I nodded, "now see what you can do."

I scanned the front page for a promising headline, nothing there. "Don't be fooled by the front page stuff, some of the best headlines are hiding in the middle," said Skittery as I turned the page. Finally I found one that looked okay. I read it aloud "New telephone design" I looked up at him "how's this?"

He shrugged, "It'll woik, now how can you _improve_ it?"

"Jeez Skittery, you sound like a English teacher or somethin'" I said grinning.

"Well I am a teacher ain't I?" he said, "now go sell a newspaper or ya won't have any money to pay for lodgin'"

I rolled my eyes and tried to come up with a good way to "improve the headline." Then I got an idea. "Extra! Extra! Communication better than ever with the new telephone design!" A passerby stopped to buy a paper. One down, nine to go.

"Good job!" said Skittery "let's see if we can beat Jack back to the lodgin' house!"

------

We arrived back at the lodging house around seven thirty that night, when we came in the door the talking quieted.

"Ya came back" said Boots finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah, well, I gotta make money somehow." I said staring down at my feet.

"So, ya gonna stick around this time?" asked Jack coming over

I shrugged, "maybe."

"Hey fella's I think we need a name for Becca" said Jack, leading me over to a sofa.

"A name? I think Becca woiks fine" I protested.

"Nah, ya need a good nickname, all of us go by nicknames" he said motioning to the other newsies.

"You don't" I argued "Jack's your real name…ain't it?"

"Yeah actually, me nickname's Cowboy, did ya honestly think that Skitts' real name was Skittery or that Race's real name was Racetrack?"

"Well…" now that I thought about it I had suspected that they were all nicknames.

"So, we need a nickname for you. What do you do in your free time?"

_Well that's a bit of a change of subject ain't it?_ "Uh…I write a lot."

"What do ya write?"

"Fairy tales mostly."

"Hmm, we could just stick with Rapunzel then."

"Rapunzel?" I asked shocked.

"Yeah, ain't Rapunzel a fairy tale person or somethin'?" asked one of the newsies.

"Yeah, she's the one with the evil stepmother who went to the ball and lost her glass slipper," answered another.

"No she ain't! That was Cinderella!" argued someone from across the room

"It wasn't Cinderella!" Pretty soon they were all in an argument over what princess did what, and soon Snow White and Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) were involved too. I groaned and slumped down in my chair. _How could a simple nickname cause forty teenage boys to get into such a stupid argument?_

"A'right everyone SHUT UP!" Yelled Jack, everyone immediately quieted. "Good, now I think we've narrowed it down to Rapunzel or Cinderella, which do ya want?"

I shrugged, "do I have a choice to say no to both?"

He grinned wickedly "nope sorry" he paused "but I suppose if you chose Cinderella you could go by Ella."

Ella. The name made me think immediately of Elizabeth. No. I wouldn't be able to go by Ella. "I guess Rapunzel will have to woik then." _How stupid _I thought _maybe I could just refuse to answer if people call me that_.

"So Rapunzel it is" said Jack. I think I actually winced at the name that time.

**So, Becca is going to stay with the newsies but got stuck with the nickname Rapunzel which she obviously doesn't like. (Haha Athena is so evil coming up with her nicknames). Make my day! Leave a review for Athena! (Or she just might find you…)**

**Shout Outs:**

**Racerchick: Yay! I get 100 papes! (dances) wow, I'm really hyper. About Nellie showing up agian, I have no idea whether she will or not, I've been tossing the idea around and I have a few ideas for how to add her in but I'm not sure yet...**

**NarniaRulz: That's too bad about your computer not letting you log in. Thank you so much for reviewing!**

**Ktkakes: Thank you so much! This chapter was a little hard for me to write, I mean, it seems like I've used the Central Park setting TONS. Oh well...Athena's fault lol.**

**SilverRain1.3: I'm glad you decided to read it, I hope it was worth your time. And I'm really glad you took the time to review. I mean, right now the little statistic thingy says that 26 people read chapter 5, but I only ended up getting four reviews, thanks so much for leaving a review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. **

Chapter 7

Elizabeth's Point of View

I walked through the crowded streets of downtown Manhattan. _Why couldn't I have gotten Matthew to drive me?_ I thought to myself. It was a warm afternoon and I could hardly breathe in the corsets I was wearing. Not to mention my dress was getting crushed from so many people passing by me and the skirt was dirty from dragging on the dusty ground. I_ hated_ summer in New York City. Thank God we were going up to our summer home next week, it couldn't come soon enough. I was on my way to Central Park to meet Katherine who was already there. _Why didn't I ask Matthew to drive me?_ I asked myself again. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ I passed some street children playing in an alley. Their skinny little arms and tan skin, they looked so pitiful. That reminded me to position my parasol higher so that it better shielded my face from the sun. I prided myself on my white complexion and many people commented on it, in a good way. I couldn't have myself becoming "brown as an Indian" now could I? I scolded myself yet again for not asking Matthew to drive me.

Finally I rounded a corner and found myself at the park entrance. Katherine said that she would be sketching down near the lake. I wandered down the paths towards the lake, taking my time. If all of New York City was like this I would want to stay here my whole life, sadly, it wasn't, far from it. Finally I reached the lake and found Katherine. She was sitting on a rock sketching a willow tree that was reaching into the lake.

"Good afternoon Katherine." I said sitting down next to her.

Her hand went immediately to her heart, "gracious me Elizabeth, you gave me such a scare, what possessed you come sneaking up on me like that?"

Instead of answering her question I leaned over to inspect her sketch. It was quite good, though the shading didn't seem right for some reason. "I started it around noon," she said as if reading my mind, "and the shadows have been constantly changing ever since" she let out a little sigh "I wish the sun would stay still for just the few hours it takes to finish a sketch." We sat in silence for a few minutes. The only sounds were those of the birds chattering, the small waves rippling, and Katherine's pencil scratching. Finally after fifteen minutes she stopped. "I can't do it! Leave art to the master's I'm through!" With that she crumpled up the piece of paper and tossed it at a nearby squirrel.

I almost had to try to keep from laughing. Katherine could be so funny when she was angry.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing" I managed to choke out.

"Humph, well, let's go, I've bored myself to death here."

I shrugged, "Alright, you didn't happen to have a carriage with you did you?"

"No I didn't why do you ask?"

"No reason." _Glorious_ I thought _I get to _walk_ that whole way_ again. Katherine and I were about half way back to our home when someone ran into me.

"Sorry" she said, averting my eyes, and then kept running.

I sniffed, "how rude."

"Did you get a good look at her?" asked Katherine turning to me.

"No…why would I want to?"

"Well, if I didn't know better she could have been your twin, you looked enough alike and there aren't many sixteen year old girls that are only five foot one running around New York City."

_Her?__My twin?__ Rebecca?_ I spun around and searched the crowd for the girl but she was nowhere in sight.

-------

That night I lay in bed thinking. Could she have really been Rebecca? If so, our lives had sure turned out differently. Here I am, a member of the highest level of New York Society and there was Rebecca, at the distinct other end of the social ladder, a street rat. From the fact that she had been carrying newspapers I guessed that she was now making a living as a newsie. Everyone knew that newsies were trouble makers. They had rebelled against Joseph Pulitzer, a personal friend of my father's, and one of the most powerful men in New York City, and had actually gotten away with it. No one should be allowed to get away with that. And _Rebecca_ had become one? She had always been wild and crazy, but she was smart and wouldn't get herself mixed up with those kinds of people. Would she?

**Yeah, Elizabeth turned out a little full of herself didn't she? Well I'll see what Athena can do about that****…but she won't be able to come up with any ideas if she isn't fed so go and review, or else she may need to go hunt down some of those lurking readers that I know are out there…**

**Shout outs:**

**Thanks so much to Star Lewis, Links aka Eruptingfender9, NarniaRulz, SilverRain1.3, and Racerchick for reviewing! (I'm too lazy to write individual shout-outs)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. **

Chapter 8

Elizabeth's Point of View

"Miss Elizabeth?" I turned away from my mirror, in order to see my maid, Charlotte better.

"Yes Charlotte?"

"Would you like the blue gown, or the pink gown?" She asked holding up the two dresses in question. I stood up and walked over to examine the gowns further.

"Only the best for this party" I murmured, almost to myself. Katherine and I had both been invited to Mayor Van Wyck's midsummer's party, though it was so large and exquisite that it was more of a ball than a party. Katherine was a personal friend of the mayor's daughter, Maria Van Wyck, and she had been kind enough to invite me as well. Finally I decided on the pink one.

"Excellent choice miss," said Charlotte as she helped me with my hair, "you will be the talk of the party."

"Oh I'm sure I'll look like a little castaway next to Katherine, did you see the dress that she decided on? The light blue? It will look absolutely stunning on her."

"Well, you look quite stunning yourself miss, if that's not too bold to say" she said as she curled my hair.

I just shrugged in response. It didn't matter how much make-up I wore or how my hair was done, I was just a street rat, a poor orphan, dressed up in fancy clothes. My encounter with "Rebecca" had reminded me of that more than ever. Of course I didn't say that out loud.

"Thank you Charlotte."

----------

Forty five minutes later our carriage pulled up in front of the Van Wyck residence. The sounds of talking and live music played from a small orchestra that had been hired for the evening came from inside the house. Katherine and I stepped out of the carriage. I have to say, it was a bit daunting, standing in front of this huge house. Of course I had been to parties before, but none as large or as grand as this one.

We walked up the stone steps to the front door. I was about to reach for the handle when it opened to reveal a butler.

"Good evening ladies" he said bowing slightly, "and welcome."

"Thank you" I said inclining my head.

"Oh Katherine" said one girl coming over to where we were standing, "I'm so glad you've finally arrived, this party has been _such_ a bore without you."

"Why Maria, you're too kind" said Katherine smiling sweetly. So _she _must be the mayor's daughter.

"Come, come, Katherine dear, everyone is _so_ excited to see you, I never knew you were so popular." And away went Katherine to her little circle of friends.

I wandered among the other guests searching for a familiar face, but I saw no one. I was two years younger than Katherine, making me _three_ years younger than Maria Van Wyck, so there were almost no girls here my age. I had also always been taught privately by James, never attended any of the fancy schools that many of the girls here did. Eventually I found myself back in the room where I had begun, the room in which the orchestra was playing. Music was my weakest point. I loved it. Every part of it. That was one of the most amazing things about finding myself rich all of a sudden. I could have almost anything I asked for, and though I never asked for much I did request piano lessons. I had thought that piano was all I was going to learn but Mr. and Mrs. Brooke had gone further and found me instruction in piano as well as violin and dancing.

I found a chair near where the orchestra was set up and sat down to watch the dancers. It was a simple waltz. I knew the whole thing almost by heart. My feet traced out the pattern on the floor underneath my chair. Oh, how I wanted to get up and soar across that dance floor. Of course I couldn't without a partner. I don't know how long I sat there, just listening to the music, and waiting, for someone, anyone, to ask me to dance. I suppose they just thought I was too young.

"Elizabeth, do at least _try_ to be social" I looked up to see Katherine standing next to me.

"I do try, it's just…the only person that I actually _know_ is you"

Katherine sighed, "What are we going to do with you Elizabeth?" Then she paused, "would you like to meet the girls that I was talking to?"

I thought about this a moment then shrugged, "I guess so."

"Alright, come on, we'll make a social butterfly out of you in no time" and away went Katherine guiding me across the room. "Girls, this is my younger sister Elizabeth" she said, stopping in front of them, "Elizabeth, this is Maria Van Wyck, you met her already I presume, Amelia Lathrop, Leah Arwood, Sarah Clegern, Ella Moyer, Anna Lang, and Hannah Karpack." _How does she know all these people?_ I wondered, of course there were only six of them and they _were_ her age, but still, I knew no one here and Katherine was surrounded by a large group of girls.

"She's your sister?" asked Ella, fluttering her fan daintily, "she doesn't look at all like you."

"Oh, she's adopted" answered Katherine.

"Really? How…interesting" said Leah. They continued chatting about different things but I felt out of place and so after about fifteen minutes I slipped away and returned to my seat near where the orchestra was playing.

"My I have this dance?" I looked up to see a young man standing in front of me. He looked to be about seventeen, one year older than me. He had brown hair and dark brown eyes and his voice had a foreign accent, though I'm not sure what it was, I was horrible at languages.

"Of course" I said standing up. We made our way to the dance floor and took our positions and then began to dance.

"You dance very well" he said as we moved across the floor.

"And you" I replied.

"Do you live here? In New York?" he asked

"Yes, I've lived here as long as I can remember, where are you from?"

"France, my father was sent here as an ambassador" _So that's what his accent was._

"How long will you be staying?"

"We were to be here only two months but complications arose and we're not sure when we will be leaving now." The dance ended and the music stopped. "Would you care to take a walk in the gardens?" he asked leading me off the dance floor.

"Of course" I said smiling. We went out the back door and stepped outside. The night was warm and the sky was decorated by a thousand stars. A violinist, a flutist, and a pianist, played softly on the terrace. The aroma of a hundred roses greeted us. He led me through the gardens until we reached a secluded bench. "Forgive me," I said "but I don't believe you have told me your name yet."

"Oh I'm sorry, my mistake it is André"

"And I'm Elizabeth"

"Elizabeth, a very English name, is it not?"

I nodded, "I suppose so, but isn't André a very French name?"

He laughed, "I suppose you are correct."

We chatted for a long time until the strains of music died away and I heard Katherine calling for me. "Elizabeth! Elizabeth! We must go, where are you?"

I stood up, "coming!"

"Will I see you again?" asked André standing up after me.

I bit my lip, "I suppose so"

He kissed my hand lightly "au revoir, until next time."

I blushed slightly and hurried off to find Katherine. "Well Elizabeth!" She said when she saw me "I see you hit it off nicely with the French Ambassador's son."

"What?" I turned to her, "Oh, yes, he was very friendly."

"Hmm, by the way Elizabeth, I'm going to be staying here a bit longer, Maria said there was something she wanted to show me, you can have Matthew drive you home, Maria said that their coachman could drive me home when I was finished here."

I nodded, "alright, have fun" Then I gave her a quick hug and hurried out the door to where Matthew was waiting for me. We were about half way home when the horses bolted. Matthew lost control, they were sprinting down the street as fast as their legs could carry them, and they were gaining speed. I looked out the window of the carriage and saw that we were nearing a steep hill. The carriage was gaining speed, I had no idea horses could run so fast. The carriage bounced and shuddered and seemed ready to tip over any second. They started down the hill, it seemed like we were free falling, and Matthew had lost all control. I gripped my seat in fright. I was too scared to even scream. Then it felt like my entire world was turning upside-down and I was thrown through the carriage window onto the hard cobblestones of the street. Then my world went black.

**Make my day! Leave a review for the muse! (Or she just might find you…)**

**Thanks to: Links, Pippa Kelly, NarniaRulz, SilverRain 1.3, and Racerchick for reviewing, you guys are awesome:D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. **

Chapter 9

Jack Kelly's Point of View

"Jack? Ya in?" I looked up to see Racetrack shuffling a deck of cards. _One game can't hurt_ I thought _and who knows? Maybe I'll actually win something…for once_.

I shrugged, "sure."

Race grinned evilly, "you're gonna regret it," and started dealing out the cards before I could answer. We had played a couple rounds when the door slammed open. I spun around to see Skittery standing there, breathless. He looked like he had been running.

"Hey Skitts, what's the mattah?" asked Kid Blink, standing up and walking over to him.

"Is Rebecca heah?" Skittery asked scanning the room.

"Ya mean Rapunzel?" Asked Race standing up, "why do ya wanna know?"

Skittery gave Race a look that said _I'll get you later _and asked us again if we had seen her. "Not since this mornin'" I said walking over to him, "I thought she was sellin' with you."

"She _was_ sellin' with me, but then she just disappeared, I've been lookin' all over for her."

"Dear me, it seems like our Rapunzel really _is _magical" said Race smirking, "she can just vanish into thin air."

"Shut up Race" said Mush stomping on his foot. Race shot Mush a glare but _did_ shut up.

"So none of ya have seen her?" Skittery sounded frantic now. We all shook our heads. "Crap" he muttered, and then he spun around and rushed out the door.

"Skittery! Skitts! Come back!" I called after him, but he kept running and disappeared around a corner. I hurried back to the lodging house. "Hey, listen!" I called as I came through the door, "we gotta go find Rapunzel, so we gotta split up into groups." I paused and scanned the group of newsboys mentally trying to divide them into groups. In the end it ended up being Mush and Blink, Snipeshooter and Pie Eater, Dash and Bumlets, Race and Boots, Snoddy and Specs, and Swifty and Dutchy. That left me by myself but I didn't mind. I hurried down the steps and took off towards Central Park.

I was about halfway there when I spotted an overturned carriage. I walked towards it carefully and stopped short when I saw Rebecca lying on the ground. She was wearing a long pink gown that was made of some sort of expensive material though I couldn't tell what. It looked like she had been in the carriage which had overturned, she had fallen out and had been knocked unconscious and the driver left to go find help. It was strange that a girl who had become a newsie because she had been caught stealing a piece of bread was really a member of the richest class in the city. But there was no doubt in my mind that it was Rebecca. I picked her up and headed for the lodging house.

When I got back several of the other newsies were already back, though Skittery hadn't shown up yet.

"Hey fella's! It looks like Rapunzel was a princess after all!" said Race when I stepped in the door.

"Yup, I guess she was" I said. I carried her up to the bunk room and laid her gently on her bed. It was all really confusing. Becca had seemed so convincing in the role as a poor orphan girl yet here she was, dressed ready to go to a party…a very nice party at that. There was no way that we could have mistaken a different girl for her, she matched Rebecca exactly. Yet it was still difficult to comprehend and I lay awake a long time that night thinking about it. But by the time I finally drifted off I hadn't figured it out yet and Skittery hadn't shown up.

**Yes, yes, I know, it was short, sorry! I'll hopefully have the next chapter out tomorrow. But I might not if Athena doesn't get her reviews!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Charlotte's Point of View

Mr. and Mrs. Brooke were close to insanity. Elizabeth and Katherine had gone to Maria Van Wyck's midsummer party and had been expected home around eleven. It was now one in the morning and neither one of the girls had shown up. Mrs. Brook was at her wits end.

"Peter we can't just stand here!" She said frustrated.

"Amelia, there's nothing we can do" he said trying to calm her down.

"Nothing we can do?! Nothing we can do?! Our daughter's are out there, they were supposed to be home two hours ago and all you can say is there's nothing we can do?!"

"Amelia, just calm down, you acting up isn't going to help anything" he said, making her sit down. "Charlotte, go and make some tea, for her please." I nodded and hurried to the kitchen where I started heating the water.

"But Peter we need to do something" Mrs. Brooke's voice drifted into the kitchen

"Amelia, what do you want me to do? Call the police?"

"Yes, I _do_ want you to call the police"

I poured the hot water into a teapot and carried it into the room where Mrs. Brooke was seated in a chair and Mr. Brooke was speaking to James.

"James, I would ask Matthew to do it but he is not here right now."

"Of course sir" said James, he then turned and left. I assumed he was going to get the police.

"Oh, and James" called Mrs. Brooke

"Yes?"

"Please give them these two photographs of the girls" she held out two pictures, one of Elizabeth and one of Katherine.

"Of course" James took the pictures and left.

"I brought you some tea madam" I said walking into the room

"Oh, of course, thank you Charlotte."

-------

I don't know how long we waited until the knock came at the door. I jumped up and hurried to towards it, and opened it. In front of me stood a tall police officer, carrying Elizabeth, though it wasn't the Elizabeth who had left the house. This Elizabeth was dressed in boys clothes, her hair was a long tangled mess that hung out from under a newsboy cap, and she had a huge cut on the side of her face, but there was no doubt about it, this strange, yet not so strange girl was Elizabeth.

"Mr. and Mrs. Brooke!" I called "They've found her!"

Mrs. Brooke came dashing out of the room, looking very unlike her usual composed self and Mr. Brooke followed at a more dignified pace though quickly nonetheless.

"Oh Elizabeth! My poor girl!" Cried Mrs. Brooke as soon as she saw her, "bring her upstairs right away."

I followed them as they brought Elizabeth upstairs to her room.

"Do you think we should wake her up or wait until she wakes up on her own?" Mrs. Brooke asked the policeman.

"I think it would be better just to let her wake up on her own, besides, I doubt you'd be able to revive her anyway in the state she's in."

They settled Elizabeth on her bed, then turned down the lamp and shut the door. I followed them quietly, listening to what they were saying.

"Have your men found anything suggesting where our other daughter may be?"

"Nothing at all, but we will keep our eyes and ears open" replied the policeman

"Well that's all I can ask of you" replied Mrs. Brooke

**Uh-Oh! The twins got mixed up! What will happen when they wake up? Well you won't find out unless you review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.**

Chapter 11

Elizabeth's Point of View

I rolled over and opened my eyes expecting to see my now-familiar bedroom. I was shocked at what I did see. I was in a long bunkroom with about 20 bunks lining the walls. Each bunk was occupied by a teenage boy. All the bunks that is, except mine. I stood up and realized that I was still in my party gown, which was now ripped and dirty. As quietly as possible I made my way down the steps to the first floor, pausing in tense silence, whenever a step or floorboard squeaked. Once outside I tried to get my bearings. I recognized the street. I had been down it many, many times on my way to parties, socials, and visiting friends. I realized that I was somewhere in the middle of Manhattan. It was a gorgeous night, the moon was out, the stars were shining, and a light breeze was blowing from the direction of the harbor. Everything was silent, it seemed like I was the only living thing in all of New York City. I hurried along at a quick pace, heading towards my home.

After about an hour and half later I arrived in front of my house. It was a large, imposing mansion, complete with pillars, and a garden in the back, as well as a gate in front. I took a deep breath and pushed open the gate, iron hinges squeaking obnoxiously as I did so. I hurried up to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Damn" I muttered under my breath, and at the same time chided myself for using such horrid language. I hurried around to the back of the house and tried the back door. It too, was locked. I was starting to get desperate. I checked every window on the bottom level, but they were all shut tight. Finally I came around to the front of the house again and scanned the windows on the top level and noticed that one of them was open, and the window that was open, happened to be mine. _But how to get up?_ I wondered, I was deathly scared of heights, and you can't just climb up a wall. Then I saw the tree. It was a large apple tree that Mother and Father had wanted to get rid of for years. They had just never gotten around to it. The most they had done was prune some of the branches back. I noticed that one of the boughs came very close to my window.

I grabbed hold of the trunk and started climbing. My long party dress made it even more difficult, and it was slow work, but eventually I was able to make it to the bough that was even with my window. I realized then, that it didn't come quite close enough, and that I had no choice but to jump the distance. _Uh-uh, not happening_ I told myself. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it would be easier to jump the distance, than climb down the tree again. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and jumped. I landed with a thud inside my bedroom. I sat up, looking around. It was only then, that I realized that I wasn't the only one in my room.

**Make my day! Leave a review! Also, I will not be able to update for awhile as we are going on vacation and I won't be able to access the internet while I am away**


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